Melissa states "Very quickly, the people in an organization can go from positive and committed toactively disengaged. Change will fail if it is executed by disengaged people who are going through the motions to collect a paycheck. Leaders must connect with people and communicate through the pain of change to drive commitment".

She clarifies the7 questions every leader must answer in order to properly handle the pain of change in your organization:

Where are we going? As a leader, you must paint the picture of where this change is going to take your organization. Tie your change initiative to organizational vision and values so that all it makes sense for the people you lead.

Who is supposed to change? Think about your team and anyone else impacted by the change. Where are they? Consider time zones, languages and cultural preferences. You may need to identify someone how can help you localize your content to make it relevant to global participants.

What do they need to hear? Don’t just show up with a slick PowerPoint that tells everyone how your change is the top priority for the organization. Think about what people need to know to support your change. Define those critical messages in advance. Be consistent! Inconsistent communication makes all communication unreliable.

How will I reach out to them? For a complex change, you might consider setting up a page on the company intranet. Perhaps you could use your voicemail system to send a general broadcast email. Could you print posters that give people information about your change? It is almost impossible to over communicate.

How will I help them through the change? The best way to keep your organization productive and engaged during changes is to identify and address their concerns about the change. Leaders must admit that apprehension and concerns exist and then explain how the change will affect people personally.

How will I hear what they have to say? Focus on creating dialogue with the people you are expecting to change. Ask how they feel about the change and solicit suggestions designed to make your change more effective. The important concept is to develop a conversation and allow the people who are being asked to change to have input into the change.

How will we celebrate our success? Don’t underestimate the power of recognition in keeping employees engaged during change. When you are asking people to leave their comfort zone and change, it is critical to provide genuine appreciation and recognition.

Melissa concludes: Answering these questions should help you develop a plan to lead your people through change. Don’t forget the most important tool at your disposal to keep people actively engaged during change. You!

15 oktober 2012

How do you perform change management in large organisations?How do you use the power of organisational tribes within large organisations?How do you boost the network leaders in a company?

I have more and more come to believe that units of about 100-150 people are a reasonable size in order to be effective. Many companies have implemented their organisations using this size and the evidence for this "group size being effective" goes back to the ancient tribe societies many thousand years ago.
In a large organisation with many thousand people - how do you really support these tribes? When having identified the existing tribes, you should understand the value of using the tribe leaders within the company. Top management who are steering the company towards a new vision, making new strategies and rolling out transformation plans should always remember that the cultural change will still be headed by the tribe leaders. And, in all organisations you have persons that are connecting different groups together as a "hub function". They are interested of using the capabilities of the whole company, using those parts that can add value to a certain activity.

In the book "Making sense of Change management" (Cameron/Green) you can read that Peter Senge (Senge et al 1999) identified three important, interconnected types of leaders that all are necessary in order to make a company change successful: local line leaders, executive leaders and network leaders:Local line leaders - Front-line managers who design the products and services and make core processes work. These people are usually very focused on their own teams and customers. They rely on network leaders to link them with other parts of the organization, and on executive leaders to create the right infrastructure for good ideas to emerge and take root.Executive leaders - These are management board members. Senge states that they are responsible for three thing; designing the right innovation environment and the right infrastructure for assessment and reward, teaching and mentoring local line leaders, and serving as role models to demonstrate their commitment to values and purpose.Network leaders - Senge makes the point that the really significant organizational challenges occur at the interfaces between different project groups, functions and teams. Network leaders are people who work at these interfaces. They are guides, advisors, active helpers and accessors (helping groups of people to get resource from elsewhere), working in partnership with line leaders. They often have the insight to help local line leaders to move forward and make change happen across the organization.

In order to be successful, a company needs to identify these different leadership types and support the interconnections between the various roles.

So, in a large company you could have hundreds of different tribes. How do you use this as a strength?Firstly, Executive leaders role are to set the stage and to clarify where we as a company are going.Secondly, identify the tribes and make their leaders visible - boost their tribal culture. Thirdly, support individuals within each tribe that are willing to take the network leader role in order to create partnerships with other tribes. Done!?

11 oktober 2012

As part of a mentoring program in Tieto, we got the opportunity to choose a leadership book as inspiration. Myself and my mentee chose "Whatever you think - Think the opposite" by Paul Arden. The cover page explains the focus of the book:

This book explains the benefits of making bad decisions

It shows how risk is your security in life

And why unreason is better than reason

It´s about having the confidence to roll the dice

I love the book. It is exformative, condensed, sharp, raw, honest, bold... Full of inspiration and passion.

Well, some sample quotes from the book:

There is no right point of view
There is a conventional or popular point of view.
There is a personal point of view.
There is a large point of view which the majority share.
There is a small point of view which just a few share.
But there is no right point of view.
You are always right.
You are always wrong.
It just depends from which pole you are looked at.
Advances in any field are built upon people with the small or personal point of view.

Steal
Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.
Devour films, music, books, paintings, poems, photographs, conversations, dreams, trees, architecture, street signs, clouds, light and shadows.
Select only things to steal from that speaks directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.
Authenticity is invaluable.
Originality is non-existent.
Don´t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it.
Remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It´s not where you take things from - it´s where you take them to"

The best piece of advice ever given was by the art director of Harper´s bazaar, Alexey Brodovitch, to the young Richard Avedon, destined to become one of the world´s great photographers.
The advice was simple:"ASTONISH ME!"
Bear these words in mind, and whatever you do will be creative.

Simply change your life.
The world is what you think of it.
So think of it differently and your life will change.